Trevor Fetter

President and chief executive officer, Tenet Healthcare Corp.

Trevor Fetter, 49, has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tenet Healthcare Corporation since September 2003. He also serves as a member of the company’s Board of Directors.

Brought in to spearhead the company’s turnaround, Fetter has led the company through significant changes in strategy, culture and corporate governance. Since he became Chief Executive Officer, Tenet outperformed 95.4 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 and 99.5 percent of the companies in the Health Care Equipment & Services according to RiskMetrics Group.

Also under his leadership, Tenet has been in the forefront in finding solutions to the nation’s uninsured challenge. Its Compact with Uninsured Patients, which has quickly become a model for the industry, provides managed care-type discounts to uninsured patients and ensures they receive treatment, regardless of their ability to pay.

The cornerstone of Tenet’s turnaround strategy is to improve the quality of patient care in its hospitals. Tenet ranks first among the investor-owned hospital companies in adherence to CMS’s publicly reported quality standards as defined by the U.S. Government, due in large part to the company’s Commitment to Quality initiative. By addressing hospital governance, evidence-based medicine, patient safety and operational efficiencies, C2Q is creating a common language and common standards across Tenet facilities, enabling the company’s hospitals to improve their decision-making processes while enhancing the environment in which they provide care.

Tenet is focused intensely on a core group of 50 hospitals in 12 states. The company has divested half of the hospitals it owned as of late 2002, as well as other businesses, as part of the strategy to concentrate its resources to create growth in its core markets. The company also created a comprehensive compliance infrastructure and an expanded ethics program to ensure that Tenet’s business practices met high standards for regulatory compliance and integrity.

Other major developments during Fetter’s tenure include moving the company’s corporate headquarters to Dallas from Santa Barbara, California, achieving a peace accord with organized labor and resolving all major litigation facing the company.

Fetter originally joined Tenet in 1995, serving as Executive Vice President and then Chief Financial Officer and Chief Corporate Officer in the Office of the President. In these roles, he oversaw the company’s corporate functions, including the areas of finance, law, information systems, human resources, communications and administration, and was actively involved in the areas of future strategic initiatives, acquisitions and new ventures.

He left Tenet in February 2000 to serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of start-up company Broadlane, Inc., which has become a leading provider of cost management services to both investor-owned and non-profit hospitals. Broadlane was founded by Tenet and several other major health care providers. During his nearly three years at Broadlane, Fetter led the company to achieve seven-fold growth in revenues. He returned to Tenet in November 2002 as President and was named acting CEO in May 2003.

Fetter received his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1982 from Stanford University and a master’s degree in business administration in 1986 from the Harvard Business School. He began his career with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, where he concentrated on corporate finance and advisory services for the entertainment and health care industries. In 1988 he joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., where he had a broad range of corporate and operating responsibilities, rising to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In addition to managing MGM’s financial organization, he oversaw its licensing and merchandising operations and served on the Operating Board of the company’s international distribution partnership.

He serves on the boards of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., the Federation of American Hospitals, the Dallas Citizens Council and the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. He is an honorary board member of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the Harvard Business School Healthcare Advisory Board.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. swung to an unexpected first-quarter loss as the hospital operator increased a reserve for a potential resolution of a whistleblower lawsuit that alleges the company’s Georgia hospitals took part in a kickback scheme.